The Hunted
by rainbow-dirt
Summary: London, 2015. A neutral vegetarian vampire seeks refuge from a Watcher and a band of Slayers after she discovers that she is being followed.
1. Prologue

It was a warm Sunday night, and she was entering the graveyard. I watched from my position in the bushes, careful not to make a sound. I was good at being silent. She didn't know that I was there, not even with her super hearing. Her dark waves cascaded down her back, landing on her leather coat. She carried a plain brown bag that looked like it carried groceries, but I knew better. It carried two pints of pig blood and a bottle of red wine. I knew her dietary habits better than anyone.

She reached the crypt that she was living in, and disappeared through the door. I would bide my time for now. Soon, the hunter would become the hunted.


	2. The Invasion

Someone had been in my crypt.

Their scent was everywhere. Human. Why would a human be in my crypt?

The band of Slayers never bothered with me, because I posed no threat to them. I never killed, and as far as I knew, they didn't even know I existed. That ruled them out.

I followed the scent to the back of the room, through the door and down the stone steps into my bedroom. Spike was kind enough to let me keep the enormous four poster bed when he left. His coat, too, which I knew he took from a Slayer he killed in the seventies. I never thought he'd let that go, but he left it here and hadn't been back to claim it.

My stuff was untouched, but the scent lingered. I'd only been gone for half an hour! At least us vampires had the decency to wait for permission to enter someone's home. Humans come and go as they bloody please.

I made a mental note to invest in a padlock, before flopping down on my bed. Dust rose up in little puffs, and I realised that it had been a while since I last cleaned. Although dust was an occupational hazard when you lived underground with lots of dead bodies. Along with the dust bunnies came an overwhelming smell of human sweat.

They'd been in my bed. I peeled back the covers to the smell of sex. There was just one human's scent, so whoever it was had fucked themselves in my bed.

This was getting beyond weird. I leaped up and went to the wardrobe to grab a bag and leave. However, the doorknob burned my hand. It was holy water. Whoever had been here knew who I was, what I was, and consecrated everything.

I did the only thing I could, and ran.

* * *

It was precisely 3:52am when a frantic hammering woke me. I yawned, assumed one of my Slayers had got into trouble, and opened the door.

A young girl of around twenty stood there. I stared at her in shock. She wasn't one of my Slayers.

"Hi," she said. Her voice was husky, and her dark hair shone in the dim light. "You don't know me, but someone is following me and I'd like to know who. I know you can help me."

I stood aside to let her in.

She didn't move. "I'll need a bit more than that."

I grabbed a cross from the table by the door and held it in front of me. She hissed and flinched. I made to close the door but she fell to her knees.

"Please," she begged me. "I know I'm a vampire and you're a Watcher but I've never done anything to hurt your Slayers. Someone came into my home tonight and _I'm scared_."

Something clicked into place in my head. "Are you the vegetarian vampire?"

She snorted. "Drinking pig's blood hardly makes me vegetarian."

"Come in." I knew she wasn't a threat. I'd been keeping tabs on her.

Once I'd got dressed, I found my file on her and gave it to her. It started with newspaper clips, appeals to find a missing girl, and later on just my diary entries, recollections from my Slayers of seeing a young woman in Spike's company, becoming fewer and farther between until she was sighted alone. None of my Slayers felt that she was a threat.

"Do you have a soul?" I asked, out of curiosity.

"No."

"Then why…?"

"When Spike sired me… when I rose from the dead, the first thing he did was give me a packet of blood. I think that's the key. The first thing you drink. It was blood from the butcher's shop. He hardly ever drank human blood either…"

Spike's story was infamous among Slayers and Watchers. He rose to prominence as William the Bloody, carving a path of destruction through the world, until he was caught by a military initiative in Sunnydale, California, who inserted a chip in his head that sent electricity through him when he caused pain to humans. Eventually he fell in love with the last original Slayer, and he sought a shaman to return his soul for her. He died in the last battle of Sunnydale, then somehow, for some reason, came back. Several years later, he ended up back here, where it all began for him. And where it all began for her.

"I'm sorry, I don't know your name," I confessed.

"Emily," she said.

"I'm Sam," I told her. "I'm pretty sure it's none of my Slayers following you, but there are a few rogue ones around, they just prefer to work alone. It could be a demon, or a witch, or-"

"The smell was definitely human," she interrupted me. She rose from her seat next to me and began pacing around. "Whoever it was knows what I am. They left holy water on everything I own."

She suddenly stopped. "I know it's unusual for a vampire to ask for help from a Watcher… I just don't have anywhere else to go."

I sighed. I knew a little more than I'd told her. "Sit down," I said, and began telling her what I knew.

* * *

 _It was raining and I was training a new Slayer in the graveyard when he came. I knew who he was straight away, with his bleached blonde hair and swagger. The only thing missing was his leather coat._

 _He walked straight up to me, and I warned the Slayer to stay back. Spike was supposed to be good now, but if it came to a fight there was no way she could take him._

 _Closer up, he looked a wreck. He hadn't slept in God knows how long, and he looked like he'd be wandering around in the heavy downpour for a while._

 _"Do you know who she is?" he asked, without preamble._

 _"The vegetarian? Yes," I replied, gripping the stake behind my back._

 _He held out a sodden piece of paper. "If she needs help, she only has to call."_

 _He carried on past me. He had no suitcase, no clothes except the ones he was wearing, no luggage or bags of any kind. Before I could turn around, he'd gone._

* * *

Her face showed a mix of astonishment and sadness. She'd had no idea that he'd left contact details. She thought he'd just gone. He was more of a man than she'd given him credit for.

She dropped back down into her seat. "I knew he loved me, just not as much as he loved _her_."

I didn't want to ask why he'd left. It was none of my business. However, I couldn't help but feel for the beautiful soulless creature sat beside me.

She ran a hand through her soft brown curls. "After all this time…" she murmured, more to herself than to me.

I glanced out of the window. The sun was beginning to rise. If she didn't want to be a pile of dust, she'd have to find somewhere dark to stay. Luckily, I knew the perfect place, right in my very own flat.

"The sun's coming up," I said. "You can stay in my office if you like. The blinds block all light out and the sofa pulls out into a bed. I can't promise not to interrupt you throughout the day, but it's better than nothing."

She nodded, and then yawned. "Yes, I think I'll get some sleep. Thank you. I'm sorry for disturbing you… I just didn't know where else to turn."


End file.
